Monday, Dec 5 2011 5:32PM
Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes indicated the commission will help improve the responsiveness, transparency and accountability of the agency's efforts. It will have 24 months to comprehensively review trust management practices and recommend beneficial changes to improve them in the future.
U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar recently named five prominent Native Americans to the Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform. The commission will examine DOI's management of nearly $4 billion in Native American trust funds.
Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes indicated the commission will help improve the responsiveness, transparency and accountability of the agency's efforts. It will have 24 months to comprehensively review trust management practices and recommend beneficial changes to improve them in the future.
"The five members each bring extensive experience and knowledge to the commission, and I look forward to their findings and recommendations for how we can fully meet our trust responsibilities to the First Americans," Salazar said.
The appointees include Bob Anderson, Native American Law Center director at the University of Washington and an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, as well as Fawn Sharp, Quinault Indian Nation president, who will serve as the commission's chair.
The DOI manages about $3.9 billion in trust funds, as well as a variety of land leases, tribal and individual accounts and other assets. The commission has been planned since 2009, when Salazar issued a Secretarial Order establishing its framework. Recommendations could change the way tribal assets are managed, affecting the tribes and individuals who receive money from the trusts.
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U.S. Department of the Interior